Child of my Heart
by katbybee
Summary: This is the Companion Piece to my story "Of Dragons, Knights and Families," which deals with events much later in the life of Firefighter Chet Kelly and his shift-mates at Station 51. You may want to read that piece first, although this story could stand alone. As always, I own nothing except the OC characters. Please R/R.


Brigida Kelly was not a happy woman. She had given birth five times before. All her children had been born at home, and she had never had a problem. She had seen no reason to be confined to a hospital bed this time either, but her husband and that ridiculously young doctor had insisted. The doctor had been insistent, claiming something about her blood pressure being too high. Moira, her neighbor and dearest friend, as well as her midwife, had become concerned about her and had called the hospital for advice. And now here she was, stuck in the hospital for the duration!

Her child should come sometime in the next few hours, but if they thought for one moment that she was going to agree to stay here for ten days when her family needed her, they were sorely mistaken! The doctor had explained it all when they had admitted her to the 'maternity ward', as they called it. The nurses were quite efficient and friendly, but "Bridie" Kelly was much too busy to spend more than a day or so in bed for something as ordinary as childbirth. And she did have the other children to think about. Moira would help her, course, but she had her family to think about as well.

After all, the war had just ended a few months ago, and her husband, Liam was still getting used to civilian life. He had been wounded in action, and sent home a year ago. Thankfully, he had healed quickly, but life was just beginning to get back to normal. He had found a job working as a fireman, something he had trained for as a young man, and he had recently been hired by the city. The steady paycheck was a godsend, even if she did worry about him, and send him off with a prayer every and gasoline rationing would still go on for a while longer, until all the troops were home. Hopefully, 1946 would be a brighter year for everyone. In the meantime, it was October, and with the holidays coming, she was determined her family would celebrate being together and healthy this year, even if they had not much else. They were used to making do. They were much better off than many the world over.

She felt sorry for the woman in the bed next to her. She seemed to be all alone. The woman never spoke much to anyone, but from what little she had said, her husband had been a POW. He had been in a bomber crew, shot down over Germany. Her letters had been returned to her unopened. The woman was heartbroken, and kept saying she did not want the child. The doctor and nurses kept insisting that she would change her mind once the child was born, but Birdie wasn't so sure. If what the woman was saying was true, it was possible the child was not his…She had heard the woman sobbing for her husband, and heard her wild ranting in the night. Suddenly her thoughts were pulled away from her unfortunate neighbor as her own pain intensified. It was time…

Four hours later, Liam Kelly gazed into the window of the nursery as the nurse held up his daughter for him to see. She was a beauty, dark chestnut hair, like her mother. And a fine healthy pair of lungs, she had, too! Yes, a true Kelly, she was! Spirited, this one! And she would need to be, to deal with five brothers! Unfortunately, they had been so sure they would have another boy, they had never even thought of a girl's name for the wee one. So he would have to think quickly. And he did. After all, he simply amended the boy's name they had picked a bit, borrowed her older brother's first name and there you be! Billie Jo Kelly…He quite liked it; if only he could get Bridie to agree.

Liam needn't have worried; Bridie fell in love with the name, every bit as much as she had fallen for her feisty daughter at first sight. After Liam had come in and they had cooed over their daughter together for a few moments, the new father was made to leave. He would go home to the family and tell them all about their new sister (!) and Bridie would rest as the nurses returned Billie Jo to the nursery.

Later the next afternoon, it was her neighbor's turn to deliver her child. They took her out of the ward to the delivery room, and she was gone for what seemed a very long time. When she returned about six hours later, she was still groggy from the anesthesia. The baby was apparently still being cared for in the nursery. The woman was silent and withdrawn, and Bridie was worried. She tried to talk to her a little, but received no answers at all. Bridie tried to sleep, as she was tired, but couldn't. She wondered what had happened to the child. The women in the ward were given their evening meal, but Anya, her neighbor, refused to eat. Instead, she simply slept.

Later, when the nurses brought the babies in to be fed and cuddled for a while, Bridie enjoyed her time with Billie Jo, and asked to keep her with her as long as possible. The smiling nurse extended their time as long as she could. However, there was no sign of Anya's baby, and Bridie whispered to the nurse, "Where is her baby? Did the child not live?" The nurse regarded Billie Jo comfortably in her mother's arms as she said sadly, "No, the child is fine, for now; but I fear he will die, for his mother has rejected him completely. She has not even looked at him since the moment she woke up. Something has broken in her mind, I think.

"That's awful! What will happen to the child?"

"An orphanage, I suppose. She has already told us there are no relatives. We cannot let her take him. She would hurt him, I think. But the orphanages here in the county are so full, already, I don't know…they'll figure out something, I'm sure, poor tyke."

"Is the babe healthy? I mean, will he be all right?"

"Oh, yes, he is healthy and strong! He's a fighter, but he is very small. I don't imagine she has eaten very well, or is very strong herself. He has masses of brown curls and green eyes. He is a beautiful little boy. I have been holding him some, but I can't let myself get attached to him, or him to me. He needs his mother." This last was said as tears of frustration began to well in the nurse's blue eyes.

Suddenly, Brigida's chin went up in a moment of absolute determination. "I need to see my husband and the ward matron, please. My neighbor Moira has a telephone. Her number is in my file. Please call her and have my Liam brought here. Tell him I need him. Right away. Also, whoever will make the decisions about where that little boy will be going. Please."

And the nurse, Magda, smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that! I hope this all works out!" And the pretty blonde hustled out the door, on an extraordinary rescue mission. The Ward Matron came to see Brigida and after talking with her, explained that legally the decision would be left up to Liam and the hospital administrators.

Brigida carefully got out of bed and stepped over to her neighbor. "Wake up, Anya! I doubt you were sleeping, anyway. Did you hear our conversation?"

Anya turned to look at her, tears streaking her face. "I heard. I am not a monster. I would not hurt my son. I don't hate him. I just cannot take care of him. I cannot take care of myself. I could not look at him, because if I did, I could not bear to leave him."

"Would it help you to know that if my husband agrees, we will take your son as our own? He will be raised as one of my own children. You will never have to worry about him. But you must realize, that if the hospital agrees to give him to us, I will request he be brought to me. That boy needs his mother in order to survive."

Anya nodded briefly. "I am aware. You must also be aware that I will do what I must. You are not to blame for any of this, and I thank you for your kindness." With that, she picked up a pen and a piece of notepaper. "What are your and your husband's names?"

A bit confused, but daring to hope, Bridie answered "Liam and Brigida Kelly" spelling the names for Anya.

Anya wrote something on the paper and handed it to Bridie. "There. If your plan works, that should help you. In any event, whether you take my son, or he ends up in an orphanage, my son is lost to me. I am tired now. I must sleep. Anya turned her back on her and faced the wall.

Birdie looked down at the note with tears in her eyes:

 _To Whoever Reads This:_

 _My name is Anya Reider. My husband Scott Alan Reider was assigned to an American bomber crew in WWII shot down over Hamburg, Germany in April, 1942. He was listed as a POW, and I have heard nothing from him since. My son, born 17 Oct 45 is not his child. I will not reveal the father's name, except to say he was an honorable man, and a soldier who died in battle. I do not wish to cause his family pain. If they will take him as their son, I give him to Liam and Brigida Kelly, to legally be their son. They can be better parents than me. Please make sure he knows I loved him. I would do anything for him. Including giving him up because I know I am broken inside since his daddy died. I hope he can understand and forgive me someday._

 _Anya Carolyn Mayer Reider_

A few minutes later, Magda was back to let her know Liam would be with her in about an hour, and that she had let him know that both she and the baby were fine; that Bridie just needed to see him about something important. Bridie was grateful, as she didn't want to panic poor Liam, just yet.

True to his word, Liam arrived out of breath an hour later. Bridie smiled at the expression on his face. How she loved her big, bluff Irishman! She laughed as he gathered her gently in his arms, relieved she was fine. "Woman," he growled. "Ye scared me ta death! What're ye schemin' now? I know that look in yer eye as good as I know me own name!"

She smiled broadly. All these many years together had truly molded them into one heart. She had no fear that he would not go along with her plan, especially once he knew the whole story. For one thing, she knew Liam was fiercely loyal to family and loved children immensely. For another, she knew him to be deeply patriotic, and deeply dedicated to the band of brothers he had fought beside in the war. He would do anything for one of his own, whether he knew him or not. With these things in mind, Bridie launched quickly into the tale of the little boy who desperately needed a family, and Liam listened carefully, asking good questions, which Bridie either answered, or wrote down to ask the Matron.

Before the boy was even 24 hours old, he was officially adopted into the Kelly clan. Brigida and Liam named him for both their grandfather's middle names, which had somehow been missed by their other sons. And that is how Chester Buchanan Kelly, thereafter known as "Chet" gained a family, his name, and a fiercely protective twin sister named Billie Jo.

Because he was underweight and a bit anemic, Bridie elected to spend her fully allotted ten days in the hospital with the twins, giving them all time to bond, and giving her son time to gain a little weight.

Tragically, Anya Reider seemed to simply fade away after the birth of her son, and on the fifth morning after giving birth, she failed to awaken. Although it saddened Bridie, it didn't really surprise her. The woman had struck her as being basically weak to begin with, and the blows to her spirit were simply more than she could bear.

Bridie and Liam would always be grateful to Anya for the incredible gift of the spirited, mischievous little boy. As for the Kelly family, the miracle they had witnessed during those two days reinforced their faith: they had no doubt God arranged a hospital stay which Bridie had vehemently opposed...since, from the moment she entered the hospital, her blood pressure had stabilized, and then remained perfectly normal!

~The End~


End file.
